NHS staff in England suspected of looking at patient records without a valid reason will be immediately suspended as part of a "zero-tolerance crackdown" on snooping. Those under suspicion will also be locked out of NHS computer systems, preventing any further viewing of confidential records, including from home. NHS England chief executive Sir Jim Mackey has written to every trust, ordering the measures to be introduced immediately to strengthen protection against data breaches.
The move follows a series of high-profile incidents involving the records of Nottingham and Southport attack victims and a child who was injured in a crocodile enclosure in Cambridgeshire. This week, Bristol Foundation NHS Trust said it had launched an internal investigation after it emerged the medical records of an 18-year-old had been accessed years after his death. The boy's mother, Paula McGowan, told the BBC she was "deeply concerned and hurt" and called for the NHS to do more to deal with the problem.
The NHS said the "hardline" approach is part of a wider crackdown, including the launch of a national campaign to "remind staff of their responsibilities and the serious consequences of unlawful access". "Patient records contain some of the most private information people will ever share," said NHS England's chief executive Sir Jim Mackey. "We have seen too many cases of people abusing that trust, and enough is enough.
"Anyone who thinks they can satisfy their curiosity by looking at a patient's record should know this: they will be found out, they may lose their career and could end up with a criminal record." This month, an investigation for the Health Services Journal found that at least 214 NHS staff have lost their jobs and around 2,000 been sanctioned for snooping on sensitive patient data over the past five years. In some cases, it emerged staff were curious about a high-profile patient and wanted to know more about their condition or care. Other staff have been struck off after looking up the medical records of relations, acquaintances and ex-partners without authorisation.
In 2023 an NHS consultant in Cambridgeshire was investigated by the General Medical Council (GMC) after accessing the health history of a woman who had started dating the doctor's ex-boyfriend. There is no single NHS-wide electronic record system that every member of staff can access. Instead, organisations including GP practices, hospitals and specialist clinics maintain their own records and determine who can view particular information.
IT systems keep an audit trail that should be able to show exactly who accessed a patient's records and when. Paula McGowan, whose autistic son Oliver died in 2016, was told that at least five members of staff at Southmead Hospital may have accessed his records without permission as recently as this year. Bristol NHS Foundation Trust said it was undertaking a "thorough investigation" and it would be "inappropriate to reach conclusions before those enquiries are complete".
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